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Employment Law

Mandatory doctor visits: Must you pay for the time?

11/01/2007

Q. We sometimes send our employees to our company doctor. Do we have to pay employees their hourly rates for their time? Also, are we responsible for any accidents that happen on the drive? —C.C., Arizona …

Drawing the line on tardiness: the legal risks

11/01/2007

Q. We’re having tardiness and absenteeism issues with our employees. If we place an employee on probation for an excessive number of times tardy and days absent, can we require no absences at all during the probation period? —C.V., New Jersey …

You can automatically apply FMLA/CFRA leave with notice

11/01/2007

Employees who need to take time off for serious health conditions can use both federal FMLA leave and California Family Rights Act (CFRA) leave, plus other paid leave for the absences. But employers can require employees to use their available FMLA and CFRA leaves for any eligible condition, even if the employees are off on other paid leave. That way, employees aren’t eligible for more time off after they have exhausted other leave entitlements …

Supervisors need to know: don’t penalize complainers

11/01/2007

Sometimes employees file discrimination complaints just to see if their employers will retaliate in some way. Then they hit back with a retaliation claim. It’s a classic trap—and it doesn’t matter if the original complaint was weak. Don’t fall for it. Instead, make sure you treat the employee exactly as you would have if he hadn’t filed the complaint …

Make it a policy: Civil behavior required at work

11/01/2007

Although employers can’t guarantee a stress-free work environment, it makes sense to eliminate as much unpleasantness as possible. That means establishing and enforcing “no hazing” and “no public argument” rules. Urge supervisors and co-workers who act like bullies to clean up their acts …

New military spouse leave law raises many questions

11/01/2007

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed California Assembly Bill 392 into law on Oct. 9, he and the legislature gave California employers only the sketchiest outline of how the new military spouse leave law will work. A few things are clear about the law, which amends the California Military and Veterans Code. First, only employers with 25 or more employees in the United States are covered …

It’s disabled employee’s burden to show qualification

11/01/2007

The California Supreme Court has made it easier for employers to comply with the disability discrimination provisions of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The court ruled that employees must prove they are qualified for the jobs they seek, not the other way around …

EEOC charges LAFD with discrimination—Again

11/01/2007

The EEOC has brought new charges against the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), charging it with subjecting black and female firefighters to a “pattern and practice” of discrimination, harassment and retaliation. It’s not the first time the department has been under fire …

Federal judge decertifies FedEx Kinko’s FLSA class

11/01/2007

Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has decertified a class action in an overtime suit involving FedEx Kinko’s managers. According to Armstrong, the 490 “center managers” in California were executive employees and therefore exempt from overtime pay under California law in spite of the fact that they reported to other FedEx Kinko officials …

California Supreme Court issues key class-Action ruling

11/01/2007

The California Supreme Court has issued its long-awaited decision in the case of Gentry v. Superior Court, deciding whether class-action waivers in employment arbitration agreements are legally binding. In a case of good news/bad news for employers, the court didn’t say that all arbitration agreements, or even all class-action waivers, were invalid—just the poorly drafted ones …